Hello, this is Teacher Bear，我是Bear老師。

小朋友，你有沒有聽過一句俗語(a saying )「塞翁失馬，焉知非福」呢？你知道這句俗語是的意思是什麼嗎？(Do you know what the meaning of this saying?)

讓Bear老師來把這個故事說給你聽(Let me tell you this story.)。

有一個老人，名叫塞翁(There was an old man named Sai Weng)，他養了一匹好馬(he raised a good horse)。有一天，他的馬跑走了，好幾天都沒回家(One day, his horse ran away and didn't come home for several days )，隔壁的鄰居王先生(The neighbor next door, Mr. Wang)他對塞翁說：「你失去了一匹好馬，真可惜啊！(It's a pity that you lost a good horse)」沒想到塞翁說：「你怎麼知道失去一匹馬不是有福氣的好事呢？(How do you know it isn't a blessing to lose a horse?)」王先生覺得塞翁真奇怪(Mr. Wang thought that Sai Weng was weird)。

沒想到，過了幾天(Unexpectedly, after a few days)，塞翁的馬居然帶著另一匹漂亮的馬回來了(Sai Weng's horse came back with another beautiful horse.)。塞翁於是說：「你們看，大家都以為我失去了一匹好馬(Look, everyone thought I lost a good horse)，沒想到現在我卻有兩匹馬(but now I have two horses)。是不是很有福氣呢(Isn't it very lucky)？」

小朋友，你有沒有這樣的經驗(Have you had such an experience)？那就是你本來以為倒楣的事，沒想到卻為你帶來了幸運(Something that you thought was unfortunate, but unexpectedly brought you good luck)。比如說(For example)，你弄丟了你的手機(you lost your mobile phone)，但是媽媽卻不願意再買新的給你(but your mom didn't want to buy you a new one)。沒想到(Unexpectedly)，因為沒有手機(because you didn't have a mobile phone)，你多了更多時間念書(you had more time to study)，結果考了第一名(and you got the first place in the test)。在這個情況下(In this case)，你就可以說「塞翁失馬，焉知非福。」(you can say: “It was really a blessing in disguise.”) 因為本來你以為弄丟了手機很倒楣(Because you thought it would be unfortunate to lose your mobile)，結果卻因為這件倒楣的事而有了好的收穫(but it turned out that a good thing came from this unfortunate incident)。

所以啊，下次如果你覺得倒楣的時候(So, next time if you feel unfortunate)，先別著急、難過(don't worry, don’t be sad)，好好地想一想這件倒楣的事情真的這麼糟糕嗎(and consider whether this unfortunate thing is really so bad)？說不定如果你樂觀一點(Maybe if you are optimistic)，就會有好事發生喔(something good will happen)。

還有，你聽Bear老師說「馬」的英文是「hɔːs」，可是，你一定聽過別人說「hɔːrs」，兩個發音都是「馬」，不過「hɔːs」是英國的發音，「hɔːrs」是美國的發音，都可以喔。

小朋友，你知道「塞翁失馬，焉知非福」的英文怎麼說嗎(Do you know how to say “塞翁失馬焉知非福” in English)？那就是：“It is really a blessing in disguise.”

「blessing」是「祝福」或「福」這個字的意思。「disguise」是「偽裝」的意思。什麼是「偽裝」呢？比如說萬聖節(Halloween)的時候，你假裝你是鬼(ghost)，我們可以說「你偽裝成鬼」。所以“It was really a blessing in disguise.”意思就是「福，偽裝成別的東西」，所以你看不出來它是福，反而以為它是倒楣的事。這樣你懂了嗎？

但是，如果你還不知道這件倒楣的事情是不是福偽裝的，可是你想先安慰自己或別人，那麼，你可以說： “It could be a blessing in disguise.” 意思是「這件事『可能』是福喔！ 」簡單來說，如果倒楣的事真的已經變成了好事，你就說 ：“It was really a blessing in disguise.” ，可是如果你還不知道，但是你想安慰自己或別人，那麼你就要說 ：“It could be a blessing in disguise.”

請跟Bear老師再說一次：

“It was really a blessing in disguise.” 或是 “It could be a blessing in disguise.”

「塞翁失馬，焉知非福」“It could be a blessing in disguise.”，小朋友，下次遇到倒楣的事情時，記得多想想這句俗語喔！If next time you meet something unfortunate, remember to think about this saying!

我們下次見嘍。

See you next time.

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